Pro sports leagues are always looking for new ways to make some cash from potential advertisers, and the NBA is reportedly ready to do just that with on-court advertisements next season.
Per John Lombardo of Sports Business Journal, the NBA has given the green light for teams to sell on-court advertising space starting in 2013-14:
NBA teams, seeing the push for lucrative jersey advertising shelved, are getting two new areas inside their arenas as sources of revenue starting next season: on the court and atop the backboards.
League officials have approved teams selling on-court advertising for the high-profile space in front of team benches as well as the camera-visible areas on top of the backboards.
A league source said no specific valuation has been assigned to the new sales areas, but multiyear, multimillion-dollar deals are expected, with teams signing package deals that would provide an advertiser with visibility in both places. One team executive said the deals could range anywhere from mid-six figures to around $2 million annually, acknowledging that the value of the signage will vary widely by market.
This appears to be one of the first big decisions by Adam Silver, the NBA Deputy Commissioner who will take over the commish’s chair once David Stern retires this summer. It’s still unknown how this decision will, if at all, alter the momentum of potential jersey advertisements that have been discussed in years past.
